The property of slaves is owned by the master unless the master has granted the terms of a mukataba, which allowed the slave to earn money to purchase his or her freedom and similarly to pay bride wealth.
Slavery as an institution which, as elsewhere in the ancient world, Islam took for granted both at the time of the Qur'an's revelation and subsequently. However, Islam mitigated slavery by recommending kindness and the freeing of slaves as acts of great merit, and declaring that their mistreatment would cause damnation. Islam permits sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside of marriage referred to in the Qur'an as ma malakat aymanukum or "what your right hands possess", although he may not co-habit with a female slave belonging to his wife. Neither can he have relations with a female slave if she is co-owned. If the female slave has a child by her master, she then receives the title of "Umm Walad" (lit. Mother of a child), which is an improvement in her status as she can no longer be sold and is legally freed upon the death of her master. The child, by default, is born free due to the father (i.e. the master) being a free man. Although there is no limit on the number of concubines a master may possess, the general marital laws are to be observed, such as not having intimate relations with the sister of a female slave. Ghamidi asserts that sexual relations with concubines were only permitted because slavery couldn't be eradicated immediately being an essential component of social and economic infra-structure.
The Qur’an gave slaves the right of Mukatabat i.e. to make contract with their masters according to which they would be required to pay a certain sum of money in a specific time period, or would carry out a specific service for their masters; once they would successfully fulfill either of these two options, they would stand liberated. The exegetical literature identified slaves as mukatab when buying their own freedom. As stated in Qur'an:
—Qur'an, Quote Reply